Temperance laid in the hospital bed groggily floating in and out of sleep. She felt him beside her. Opening her eyes, she saw him slumped over in his chair, his head resting on the bed. Smiling she placed a soft hand on his head, stroking his hair with affection.
He stirred but did not rise. His snores came softly as he grumbled incoherently.
"Seeley," she whispered caressing his face, admiring the slight stubble growing there.
"Hmm?" he mumbled still half asleep.
"Come on Seeley," she said, "Wake up."
Booth's eyes wrenched open. Gazing up at her, his eyes filled with happy tears.
"Bones!" the word came out in a gasp as he embraced her. "I thought you'd….died. We all had! I'm….sorry….so sorry!"
Temperance smiled at his clinginess. He blamed himself for not finding her, she knew. "It's alright, Booth. It's not your fault."
"It is Temperance. It's all my fault. If I had been there, if I had thought, if…," Booth's babble ceased when she put a hand over his mouth.
"Seeley, please," she said smiling up at him, "There was no way you could have prevented this."
He nodded but did not seem to believe that this was not totally his mistake.
She gripped his hand, tightly.
"God, Bones. I missed you," he told her absentmindedly stroking her hair.
She breathed in his musky smell as she clung to him, never wanting to let go. She felt the tears as they rolled down her face.
There was so much she wanted to say to him when she was down in that tomb, but she couldn't seem to make her mouth move and the words to form now that he stood before her.
Finally she loosened her grip on him, allowing room for him to break contact. He didn't budge. He seemed very content on holding her, which was fine with her. They stayed like that embracing one another, both with tears in their eyes, until they heard the soft clearing of a throat.
Opening her tear ridden eyes, Temperance saw a young woman standing in the doorway leaning against the wall.
"Hey, Ange," she said moving away from Booth and smiling at her best friend.
"Sweetie," Angela said practically sprinting towards the bed. Gathering her up into a hug, Angela gripped her like life depended on it. Bren could hear her quietly crying.
"It's alright," Temperance said stroking her back, "I'm alright."
She felt Ange nod into her shoulder. Booth got up and helped the hysterical woman to sit.
"How's Hodgins?"
Angela smiled through the tears. "He's fine. Don't worry, he woke up before you did, I've already been to see him."
"That's great!"
There was a long uncomfortable silence that followed. Bren was the first to break it.
"How's work been?" She looked expectantly from Booth to Angela.
"Um…," Booth murmured avoiding her eyes while sifting nervously.
Angela looked down. "Well…"
"Couldn't be that bad!" Bren tried to reason.
No one said anything.
There was a knock on the door as Cam and Zach appeared there.
Brennan gasped as she saw the condition Zach was in, his eyes bloodshot with dark circles under them. He was as thin as a rail, his clothes hanging off him loosely.
He managed a smile that seemed to give him the look of the old Zach.
Her attention diverted to Cam, who was looking uncharacteristically casual. She wore jeans with a plain blue t-shirt and sneakers. Her hair was nonchalantly tossed into a bun, and she wore little make-up.
What had happened to her team? Had Hodgins and her own supposed "deaths" had that great an effect on them?
"What's been going on?" Brennan prodded them for information.
All of them looked away.
"Come on, someone!"
Booth sighed loudly. "Alright, I'll tell you, but it's a long story."
She almost laughed. Waving a hand at the bed, she replied, "It's not as though I'm going anywhere."
And so he began.
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